Winnipeg activist who refused appointment to police board questions 'incredibly intrusive' screening
Louise Simbandumwe says checks are unfair, unnecessary and may disproportionately affect people of colour
A Winnipeg human rights activist who walked away from an appointment to the city's police board over its security screening process says the checks are unfair and unnecessary, and could disproportionately affect people of colour.
Louise Simbandumwe refused her appointment to the police board in 2013, after she learned about the far-reaching investigation into her personal life that would be conducted by the Winnipeg Police Service itself.
"They wanted the address of every single place I've ever lived in my whole life, every single person I ever had any sort of a romantic relationship with — names, phone numbers, contact information," Simbandumwe said.
"It was all very strange and incredibly intrusive."
Simbandumwe's comments come after Coun. Vivian Santos (Point Douglas) resigned her own appointment to the board this week, after being told she'd failed the security clearance check. Santos has said she doesn't know why she failed, and police wouldn't tell her.
Santos, who resigned on Tuesday, said Wednesday she is now reconsidering her decision. In a tweet, the city councillor called the police action arbitrary and said she's also considering legal action.
The councillor, who is also acting deputy mayor, said Thursday she's still considering her options, but declined a full interview.
Simbandumwe said Santos's experience recalls the concerns she herself raised back in 2013, though they went unheard.
"It's what I predicted at the time, which is that there would be really amazing and excellent people that would have a lot to contribute to the work — particularly people of colour, people of African descent, Indigenous people — who would be really reluctant to to allow their names to stand for the board," she said.
"Very understandably, there is mistrust of the police.… Our communities are overpoliced, and so there's a much greater likelihood that we would have associations with or be in contact with people that the police might find problematic."
'Measure of control' over board
Winnipeg police have multiple levels of security clearance checks, a spokesperson wrote in an email Thursday. The spokesperson said only the lowest level check is required for potential members of the board.
"[The check] involves simply cross-checking the applicant's name against various databases, including both our internal systems and [the Canadian Police Information Centre]," the central database for Canada's police forces, the spokesperson wrote.
"This is the same type of security check that would be performed on a contractor who would be doing work within a WPS facility.
"Any concerns or flags are reviewed and assessed by a security committee, which then makes the final determination."
The background checks are mandatory under provincial legislation and a Winnipeg bylaw, which says all potential board members must pass background security checks prior to their appointment.
Simbandumwe, however, said police shouldn't be the ones investigating members of the police board — which is intended to provide civilian governance and oversight of the Winnipeg Police Service.
Under Manitoba law, the police board is not entitled to information about individual investigations or intelligence files. The Police Services Act also forbids board members from any role regarding the discipline or personal conduct of any police officer, except for the chief.
The act says the board must never give orders or directions on specific operational decisions, individual investigations or "the day-to-day operation of the police service."
Simbandumwe questioned whether there's a need at all for a search as intensive as the one she would have had to undergo, had she accepted her appointment to the board.
She sat on multiple boards for the federal and provincial governments, she said, and was never the subject of such far-reaching investigation — despite being privy to confidential information and policy decisions.
"The only conclusion that I can come to is that the police really want to have some measure of control over who sits on the board, and that's their way of exerting it."
Checks minimize risk: board chair
Coun. Markus Chambers (St. Norbert-Seine River), the current chair of the police board, said he believes the security screening is performed objectively by police, and called it a necessary step to minimize risk.
"If a family member has an ongoing criminal investigation matter that can be leveraged by a vote on the police board, those are the risks that are of concern to the police," he said.
The suggestion the outcome of any screening could be influenced by political views of potential members is "unfathomable," he said.
Chambers said he has little context about why Santos failed the check, but he believes it was conducted fairly.
He does have other concerns about the process he plans to raise with the board. Earlier this week, he said he'd support another police service taking over security screening, for example.
The councillor said he's dedicated to working with communities to ensure diverse voices are heard on policing.
"I'm committing myself and our board to increasing the dialogue with marginalized communities, with underrepresented communities, with our business community to talk about policing and how we need to improve policing in our city."
'Not transparent, not accountable'
Simbandumwe didn't go through with the screening due to her concerns, and the province appointed someone else to the board in her place.
When she learned about the security clearance in 2013, she said, police didn't answer questions about the basics of the process: how long it would take, how long her information would be kept or how they'd ultimately determine whether she was "of good character," which Manitoba legislation says is the goal of the investigation.
"It was just a really secretive, not transparent, not accountable process," she said.
She hopes Santos does fight the security clearance failure, and that police are compelled to answer some of those questions.
After her experience, the Manitoba Police Commission wrote a report on security clearances for municipal police boards in Canada. The report made multiple recommendations, including that board appointees should be able to select which police body conducts the screening — ideally, it says, the RCMP.
Now, especially in light of recent high-profile acts of police violence and protests from communities against police actions, Simbandumwe said she's not satisfied with that idea.
"If those background checks are being conducted by a police service that has demonstrated that they're not able to interact with everybody in society in a fair and equivalent manner ... the end result will be that you won't have the kind of diversity and perspective that you need on the board," she said.
"It undermines the whole reason for having the board in the first place."
With files from Meaghan Ketcheson and Aidan Geary